Saving Codi
by Mickerayla
Summary: Tony is forced to help out a girl that was a victim of a horrible experiment. But what will happen when the leader of that experiment comes back to get her? Told by Codi's point of view.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. School is murder and I keep getting writer's block. It sucks, I know.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

_Nothing but beeping and breathing._

_Pain. Headache. A stinging in the right hand._

_Darkness. Why? Open your eyes, Idiot._

_Light. Blinding. Blurred. Blinking. Focus._

_Lights. Light reflecting off of white walls._

_Incapable of movement. Question: Why?_

_Answer: bonds. Made of leather. They stretch, but not break._

_More sound; a door opening and closing. Footsteps._

"_I see you're awake." A voice. A man's voice._

_A head appears. He's bald, but he has a beard. _

"_How are you feeling?"_

_Feeling…Pondering…New question: who?_

"_Who are you?"_

I jerked awake. Pain filled my body as soon as I opened my eyes. I slowly sat up and waited for the pain to go away. It did after a few moments. It always did. You see, whenever I had dreams about that place, or even _him_, pain would flood over me.

I blinked a few times. It took me a few more minutes to realize that I wasn't in that hell-hole, but I was on the streets, living in a dead-end alley way. Sure, I could go to a homeless shelter, but I knew nothing good would come of it. They could often get crowded. Me being in a crowded place was extremely dangerous.

I looked down the alley-way and watched cars pass by for a few moments. Shaking my head, I slowly got to my feet and brushed myself off. I folded up my sleeping bag and hid it in the usual spot: behind a trashcan. I made my way to the street and headed towards one of the only places in Malibu that would give me free food: Jerry's Diner.

As I walked down the street, I found myself amongst a crowd of business people. I groggily took note on how many of them tried to get as far away from me as they could. You see, not many people want to be near a person who lives on the streets.

It took all of two minutes to reach the diner. I walked in and was immediately greeted by one of the employees. Her name was Becky. She knew me well, so she sat me down at my regular booth. It was right next to the door, in case I had to make a quick getaway. You see, she's one of the few people who knew of my secret, and I intended to keep it that way. Jerry was another…I guess everyone who worked there did.

Becky left and a few moments later, a preppy blonde girl came to my table to take my order. She couldn't have been older than eighteen.

"Hi, welcome to Jerry's Diner! My name is Annie-May and I'll be your server this morning! Can I start you out with something to drink?" I flinched. Her voice was high and loud. It didn't help the headache that my dream had left me with. She must be new, though. All the other employees didn't address me like that.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" I muttered.

She looked at me like I was an idiot…but, for all I know, I could be. "Don't you, like, know that it's Summer Vacation?" she asked me in a snobbish tone.

"…No." The girl, Annie-May, narrowed her eyes. I sighed.

"Alright, I'll have a Bud Lite ," I told her.

"Um, we don't serve beer here. And, like, how old are you? You don't look old enough to drink," she said.

"I'm twenty-eight." I growled. This girl was getting on my nerves. Not only that, but my headache kept getting worse and worse. If she didn't shut up, something would slip. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the voice marveling about how I looked so young.

"I'll take this one, Annie-May," I heard a familiar voice say. I opened my eyes and saw Oliver. I sighed in relief as the girl walked away. I smiled at Oliver.

"The Usual?" he asked. We both knew he knew the answer, but it never hurt to check. I smiled.

"The Usual," I confirmed. He smiled back at me and left for the kitchen. I watched as a couple followed Becky past my table. She sat them down and headed back my way. As she passed, I grabbed her arm.

"Why didn't you tell me there was going to be a new person?" I groaned. She smiled at me.

"Jerry wanted it to be a surprise," she replied.

"That girl is terrible at guessing ages," I muttered.

"Oh?"

"She didn't think I was old enough to drink."

Becky tried to hold back laughter. I let her arm go and she walked off.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Just give me a heads up next time!" I called after her. I turned my head as I heard the sound of the kitchen doors open. Oliver had come out and he had a beer. He also had something in his hands, but I couldn't tell what it was. He sat down across from me and handed me the beer.

"Open your hand," he told me. I did. Three little pills hit the palm of my hand. I looked at it. Ibuprofen. I popped them in my mouth and washed them down with some beer. Oliver was watching me.

"I really think you should come live with me," he said.

I flopped my hand on the table. "We've been over this. I don't want you to spend money on me. And I can't get a job. You and everybody else here knows that…except for Annie-May. I'm best off living on the streets," I told him.

He sighed. "I just think you should reconsider it."

I smiled at him. "Look. I really appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine."

As we sat in silence, I overheard the name 'Tony Stark' on the radio. I rolled my eyes.

"Man, that guy annoys me," I muttered.

"Who?" Oliver asked, completely oblivious.

"Tony Stark," I said.

"Why?"

"The way he treats women…it's horrendous," I said angrily. Oliver nodded in agreement.

I sighed. "I think I need to go for a walk. I'll talk to you later." And with that, I got up from the table, beer in hand, and headed towards the door.

"Codi!" I heard Oliver call my name. I turned around to see him running up to me. When he reached me, he pulled me into a hug. "Please tell me you'll think about it."

"Alright. I promise," I told him. We broke apart, and I left the diner.

Right before the door shut, I heard Annie-May protest, "She didn't pay for that!"

I made my way over to the park. I often went there and watched the world go by. When I got there, I went over to my favorite bench. I looked at my surrounding. I loved this park. There were trees everywhere, so it was like a mini forest, but you had room to move and run around. I think it was called Michaela's park (1).

I still had my beer in my hand and was just finishing up when _he_ walked by, followed by a group of paparazzi. I could see his mini Ark Reactor glowing through his sweat-soaked t-shirt. I saw a small stick laying close by and got a great idea. I grabbed it and started walking towards him.

"Mr. Stark!" I called, jogging the rest of the way to him, seeing as he had stopped. I held the stick up to my face as if it was a microphone. "Would you mind answering a few questions?" I stuck the face up to his mouth.

He smiled. "Sure. Anything for a beautiful woman like yourself."

I mentally rolled my eyes. "Would you mind telling us at _Unknown Magazines _about your drinking problem?"

He laughed nervously. "What drinking problem?"

"Don't try to hide it. Not only have you given many speeches while being drunk, but we've talked with your good friend, Cornel James Rhodes," I persisted.

"I…Uh…Um…I…"Tony stuttered.

"Do you think this will hinder your performance as Iron Man?" I asked.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about," Tony retorted.

I rolled my eyes. "That's will be all, Mr. Stark," I said curtly. I spun around and walked off, throwing the stick onto the ground. I could just picture the stunned look on his face.

"W-wait a minute!" I heard Tony call. I turned around and saw him jogging after me. He caught up with me.

"What makes you think you're a hero?" I snapped, sticking my finger in his face.

"I'm protecting those who can't defend themselves. That's what a hero does," Tony retorted.

I gave him an exasperated look. "That not the only thing they do! A hero is not just a man who flies around in an iron suit! It's more than just having a miniature Ark Reactor in your chest!" I poked said object with those last three words. "You drink and have sex with every girl you meet! Do us all a favor and either drop some of those habits, or stop being a hero!" And with that, I spun around and stalked off. I heard the snap of the paparazzi cameras. Whether they were taking pictures of me, or of the famous Tony Stark, I don't know.

* * *

Sorry if the ending seems ubrupt. And Sorry about spelling and stuff. I'm not that great at stuff like that. And please tell me if it seems rushed. This is the seccond draft of this story and I'm not too keen on re-writing it a third time, but if I need to, I will.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm so sorry to my five readers that I haven't updated in a while. School's hectic and I had writers block. I'm also sorry if it seems rushed. So here's the seccond installment of Saving Codi.

_

* * *

_My head was throbbing. I didn't understand why my headache hadn't gone by now. They usually went within an hour, and it had been two. And it had grown worse. I walked across the street from the park and sat down on a door stoop. As usual, people ignored me. To them, I was a homeless beggar that they would all just ignore.

I sat there for a while, hoping- no, praying that this migraine would go away. There were still a few paparazzi were snapping pictures of me. I could see little flashes through my eyelids. Opening my eyes, I got up and started walking away. I needed to get away from them. I decided to go to the one place I could call safe: Jerry's Diner.

As I suspected, the people kept following me. I started jogging. They also jogged. I then started sprinting. They did too. Running did _not_ help my migraine at all. If anything, it worsened it.

It was at that point that I started panicking. Something could go off at any moment, right in front of hundreds of people, not to mention it'd probably be in every single magazine. I couldn't let that happen. I'd kept it secret from the world for so long, I couldn't blow my cover now.

Relief flooded my mind when I spotted the diner. I quickened my pace. Someone must have seen me running, because when I got within one hundred yards of the door, it was flung open. I rushed in. The door shut, though the pictures didn't stop. I fell on the floor and clutched my head. My sight faded in and out, but I could see that the diner was full. I could feel someone's hand on my shoulder.

"Calm down, Codi," I heard Oliver murmur in my ear.

"Get. Everyone. Out," I said through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry to rush you all, but something has popped up. Everyone needs to get out of here as soon as possible. Within the next thirty seconds would be nice," I heard the familiar voice of Jerry ring out. "I'm terribly sorry about this, and none of you will need to pay for your meal. That will be taken care of. Once again, I _am_ very sorry about this."

I heard murmurs and footsteps as people left the diner. Another pair of hands landed on my shoulder. "Come on, Codi, let's get you into my office. Can you walk?" I heard Jerry's voice in my ear. I tried to speak but all that came out was a scream At that point, controlling this power was becoming painful, and my head felt like it was going to explode.

"I'll carry her," Oliver told him. The next thing I knew, I was in the air. The rush of air told me that Oliver was running. I was then in Jerry's office. Oliver set me on the floor, then hurried out of the small room. When I heard the close of the door, I let loose.

I screamed the whole time it was happening. A high pitched noise buzzed in my ear, just as it did every time I lost control. The power of it all was forcing my hands in different directions. I didn't know what it was, but I knew that something was hitting just about everything in that room.

After what seemed like an eternity, the power slowly weakened, and I did too. When I felt the power almost gone, I felt myself slide to the floor. I then blacked out.

* * *

I don't know how long it was, but when I woke up, I felt a hard, cold surface under me. A table? Maybe. I didn't know. I opened my eyes. To my relief, my headache had gone. I sat up, but instantly became dizzy.

"Hey, hey, hey! Lay back down! I don't want you to go all porcupine on us again!" I heard Becky's voice beside me. I noticed that I was in the kitchen. Her dark skinned hand appeared into my line of vision, pushing me back onto the table. I groaned.

"I just want this day to end," I muttered, closing my eyes.

"I know how you feel. Since you last came in here, reporters and paparazzi have been surrounding this place," Becky informed me.

"Did you hear any of the reports?" I asked her. I opened one of my eyes and saw her glaring down at me.

"Please tell me you didn't." Becky knew how much Stark annoyed me.

"I did."

She sighed and threw up her hands in exasperation. They ended up crossed across her chest.

"Why?"

"He was _right there_!" I told her. "I had to do _something_."

There was a pause. "Well," Becky said quietly. "Someone had to do it. If anyone was to do it, you'd be the best candidate."

I grinned at her. "I'd rather have the press follow me than anyone else," I teased. She punched my playfully in the shoulder. "Although, it will be harder keeping _it_ a secret from the world," I said, frowning.

"Don't worry. We'll help you out," Becky said, patting my shoulder.

"Yeah, but you guys aren't the only ones that know about this," I muttered.

Right after those words came out of my mouth, the doors to the kitchen flew open. They slammed into the walls, making both Becky and me jump. Jerry's voice came in from the dining area. "Hey! You can't go back there!"

My heart stopped when two familiar men walked through the doors. They had on business suites, sunglasses, and weird looking hats. All in all, they looked like people that had come straight out of an old mob movie. It was Ryan and Vinnie.

"It's okay! We're friends of Codi," The one on the right, Vinnie, said.

"No!" I breathed, and tried to scoot father away from them on the table. I ended up scooting too far and falling off of the table. A four foot drop. I landed on my left arm and heard a small crack. I sucked in air. Ryan's head poked out from the side of the table.

"Don't go running off on us, now," he scolded, grinning. He reached down and grabbed my sleeve, hauling me to my feet.

"If you all don't mind, we're going to have a little _chat_ with Codi, here," Vinnie announced, sneering on the word 'chat'.

"Actually, we do mind," Becky said, holding up a knife. Ryan sighed and pulled out a Beretta 92FS - 9mm from his holster. Vinnie pulled me out the back door, which led to an alleyway.

"Well, that's just too bad," Ryan told them before following us out the door. We headed towards the end of the alleyway, away from the street. At the end, it connected with another alley. A right turn and a left turn later, I was slammed into the brick wall of a building. The space between my face and Vinnie's suddenly closed.

"Did you get it?" he asked. His breath smelled minty.

"Get what?" I asked, playing dumb. I knew what he really wanted.

"Don't screw me. Did you get it?"

"I'm not screwing you," I replied.

"Then answer the question," Ryan said over his shoulder. He was keeping watch.

"No. I didn't get it."

Vinnie sighed, his hat and glasses coming off. Being the first time I had seen Vinnie without glasses or a hat on, I was pleasantly surprised. He had brown hair with golden tips and deep green eyes. My breath caught in my throat. He rubbed a hand through his hair before putting his hat and glasses back on.

"Why not?"

"Jerry's my friend. I'm not going to take something from him," I whispered.

Vinnie rolled his eyes. "You just _have_ to be friends with everyone, don't you," he growled.

"I didn't chose to be friends with them," I snapped.

"Hey!" Vinnie practically yelled in my face. "Don't be wise. People lose their lives that way."

"Are you threatening me?" I asked, raising my voice. A hand appeared on my throat, lifting me off of my feet. I clung to the hand, hoping to raise myself so I could breathe. The grip grew stronger.

"Maybe I am…" he growled. Pain seared across my check and I felt disoriented for a moment. "…Maybe I'm not." More pain. I was thrown to the ground, and pain filled my head. A foot landed on my left wrist, not hard, but enough so that I was in agony. I let out an ear-piercing scream. A hand appeared over my mouth.

My eyes focused and I saw the shadow of Ryan kneeling over me. "Shut up!" he snapped. "Do you want people to hear us?" Another slap. I bit down on his hand. Ryan started cursing and a foot connected with my stomach. I hadn't felt this much pain since I left that place.

"Oh Lord, please take me now," I muttered. As if God had heard me, a small glowing light filled the alley. We all looked up and I saw a small but bright light coming from the a shadow of a man.

"Hey!" the man called out. "Don't you know it's not nice to hit a girl?"

It was Tony Stark.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Alright. Long time, I know. But hey. School's hectic. Enjoy the third chapter of Saivng Codi.

* * *

There stood Tony stark at the end of the alleyway. I cursed my luck. Not only was it the man I despised, but it was the same guy I had insulted in front of a couple dozen reporters just a few hours ago. Once he would see who it is, he'd probably leave me for Vinnie and Ryan. It wouldn't surprise me. After what I said, _I _wouldn't save me.

"Stark!" Vinnie yelled at him. "Go away! You aren't apart of this!"

"Ah. Well, you see, that's where you're wrong." Tony replied. "That woman you're beating up just insulted me in front of a bunch of reporters, so I am a part of this. Sorry to rain on your parade."

Ryan aimed his gun at Tony. "I don't want to have to do this, Stark, but if you don't leave I will," he growled.

Stark chuckled. "You're really going to kill me, one of the most famous and richest guys in America, and expect to get away with it? I don't think so!"

Ryan cocked the gun. "Who said anything about killing?"

Tony didn't seem worried. "Kid, I've survived terrorists. Do you think one little-"

Ryan pulled the trigger. The shot rang out and Tony clutched his arm. He had gotten hit.

"Don't call me 'Kid'," Ryan hissed.

"Okay, that hurt…" Tony muttered.

"Stark!" I moaned. "What did Vinnie tell you? Get out of here!" I grunted as my body was momentarily lifted off the ground and roughly shoved against the wall. Stars filled my eyes when I hit my head against the brick wall. When they cleared, I found myself in Vinnie's grasp again. His hand moved up to my throat, and I was forced to grab onto his arm to keep a small flow of air to get through.

"Leave the girl alone!" Stark growled.

"Or what? What will you do, Stark?" Ryan asked, raising his voice. "Will you blast us with you fancy missiles? Oh wait, you can't. Because you don't have them with you!" By this time, he had started to yell. I don't know why, but clearly Ryan was upset.

"Even if you wanted to, you wouldn't be able to save this girl," Vinnie sneered. "In case you haven't noticed, there are two of us, and only one of you. Sure, one of us will have to hold onto the girl, but with that shoulder, you wouldn't be able to take even one of us." The two men turned their attention back onto me, but before they could utter a word, Stark had taken a step forward.

Stupid man.

Vinnie and Ryan turned toward Tony again.

"Did you not hear us, Stark?" Vinnie asked. "Go home."

"No." Tony said dangerously. "Not until you let the girl go."

"This girl deserves everything she's going to get and then some," Ryan replied.

Stark took a step further. Ryan pointed the gun at him. "I can change my mind about not killing you, you know."

"It's not my life I'm worried about," Tony muttered, pain laced in his voice. His shoulder was getting to him. In an instant, the barrel of the gun was pressed against my forehead.

"Oh, come on now, Ryan. After all we've been through, you're really going to-" I wheezed out. When the pressure on my forehead grew, I decided to shut up.

"Let the girl go," Stark said with a little more force.

Vinnie chuckled. "You don't think we're serious, do you?"

"I can see it in your eyes, kid. You don't want to do this. Just let her go, and we can all go home," Stark said roughly.

"You're right. I don't want to do it. That is why you should leave," Vinnie replied.

"You know what, Vinnie? Maybe Stark doesn't have to leave. Maybe he could stay and watch…" Ryan said. They looked at each other and Ryan grinned.

I don't know if it was because my mind decided to be extremely sluggish, or if it was something else, but Ryan had suddenly appeared over by Stark. The older man was pushed against the wall by Ryan.

"Vinnie's right, Stark. Why don't you stay and watch? It'll be a party," Ryan said, smiling. He turned to Vinnie and gave him a nod. Vinnie grinned at me. I didn't like this grin. It was a sick, twisted grin. My heart sank.

My eyes started to water when a fist connected with my ribcage. The hands holding me up let me go, and I slid to the wall, coughing. I fell onto my side and clutched my stomach. A foot connected with my arms, then with my stomach. Hands grabbed my arms. At least one of my shoulders was dislocated as I was flung across the narrow alleyway. A searing pain ran across my back and head as I landed on the corner of a dumpster. I grunted as I fell to the ground, this time with my back facing up and my forearms keeping me up.

"Stop! Please!" I heard Stark yell.

Something in his voice set me off. Something I never would have thought I'd heard someone say when I was beat.

Fear.

There was fear in his voice. Fear for my life. Never had that happened before. It was already a horrible noise when someone feared for their own life, but when someone feared for my life…it was heartbreaking. I knew that I had to do something to take the fear away.

When Vinnie went to kick me again, I grabbed his foot, sliding to my side. A knife appeared in my hand and I slashed at his Achilles tendon. Vinnie let out a scream. He fell to the ground. I grabbed his upper body and pulled him towards myself. He fought my grip, and was surprised I was strong enough to keep my grip on him. When I got him in the right position, I held the knife up to his throat.

"Let Stark go," I growled. Ryan immediately let the man go. I grabbed Vinnie's gun from him and threw it down the alleyway. As quickly as I could, I got up from the ground.

"Run!" I yelled. The two of us sprinted down the alley; the adrenaline making me forget about the pain. Bullets whizzed past our heads. We twisted and turned down the maze of buildings, bullets chasing us. Ryan was following us. A gun materialized in my hand and I threw it to Stark. He looked at me confused, but turned and shot back. A bullet grazed my arm, making me stumble and hiss in pain. We both ducked behind a dumpster and I collapsed, panting hard.

"We have to keep moving!" Stark told me urgently. I held up a finger, trying to catch my breath. A crushed trachea made it hard for one to breathe.

Tony stepped in front of me, slightly crouched. "Hop on," he told me. I shook my head. For one thing, I was _not _going to accept help from this man. Whatever pride I had left wasn't going to disappear now. For another thing, Stark was injured. He wouldn't be able to carry me for long, and when he'd have to put me down, we'd both be screwed.

Ryan's footsteps grew louder. I nodded to Stark and, even though I wasn't ready, we started sprinting again. Another bullet grazed my side. I swore under my breath, but continued running. We made another turn down yet another alleyway, and, to my relief, I saw the familiar buildings of downtown Malibu. I sped up as the buildings got closer and closer.

"Stop!" I heard Ryan scream. A gun went off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Stark tumble to the ground. I skidded to a stop, glancing longingly toward the end of the alley before rushing to Stark's side. Blood was pouring out of his shoulder. A scream of pain ripped from his throat.

"Tony! We have to go! Please!" I pleaded. I had just barely touched his lower arm when another scream emitted from him. Tears filled my eyes. This was _not_ happening. I quickly brushed them away and glared up at the approaching Ryan. He looked down at us with a triumphant grin.

"Got you," he sneered. He pointed the gun at Stark. "Now, come with me and I won't shoot him again." I nodded and slowly got to my feet. As I got to my full height, the small wound in my side had decided to burn. I quickly put my hand over the small wound. Ryan grinned.

I gave another anxious glance at the opening of the alleyway. Surely someone would have seen them. I was too weak to have another gun. There was only one thing I could do to keep the gun off of Stark.

I took two small steps and placed myself in front of Stark.

"W-what are you doing?" Stark wheezed out.

"Saving your life," I muttered.

"Oh," came the quiet reply.

"Codi move," Ryan demanded.

"No."

Another gunshot, and my stomach exploded into pain. I gasped and felt myself fall slowly to the ground. As I lay, writhing on the ground, Ryan entered my line of sight.

"I didn't want to have to do this Codi, but you left me no choice," Ryan said quietly. There was something in his voice I never expected to hear from him. Was I guilt? I couldn't tell.

"Then you shouldn't have done it!" a grunt came from beside me. Stark tackled Ryan in a blur. After a few moments of wrestling around, Stark's head came into view.

"Come on, Codi. Stay with me," came his gentle murmur. His head went in and out of focus. My body was lifted off the ground for the ump-tenth time and I could tell he was running to the end of the alley.

Right as Stark took his first step onto the sidewalk, I felt him trip. He cursed as I went flying out of his hands and onto the sidewalk, banging my head on the cement. Surprised shouts erupted from around me. It obviously came as a shock to these people to see two bloody and bruised people come stumbling out of a dark alleyway.

"Codi, can you hear me?" Stark was already at my side. I let out a small scream of pain. "Codi, I'm going to call the hospital, and they're going to come get us, all right?" he said in a gentle voice.

My heart skipped a beat. A hospital? I was not going to go to a hospital. Going to a hospital ran the risk of going back to that place. Darkness crept into the edges of my sight.

"No," I forced out. "Not a hospital."

"Codi, you need to go to a hospital."

"No!" I whimpered. "Not back there. Please!"

There was a pause. "All right." I heard the beeping of a phone before Stark's voice entered my ears again. "Pepper? I need you do to me a huge favor…"

I didn't hear anymore before the darkness came over me.


	4. Chapter 4

Well Hell! I know I haven't updated this in the LONGEST time, but I got really bad writers block. I'm not a big fan of this chapter, as it's kinda short. But! I have more ideas now, so hopefully I'll be cranking out updates more. I know the last line doesn't exactly fit how I've been narrating this, but I saw Mysterious Skin last night, and I really, really, really liked the last lines of that, so I kinda wanted a meaningful last line. I probably failed, but whatever.

Enjoy this latest installment of Saving Codi.

* * *

The first thing I heard when I awoke was beeping. Cursing whatever deity there was, then Tony Stark, I opened my eyes. The white of the ceiling hurt my eyes, and when I went to shield my eyes, I felt the tug of a small tube on my hand. Growling and closing my eyes, I reached over with my other hand to pull it out. As soon as that went out, I lifted my hand to pull out more tubes when a voice stopped me.

"You don't want to do that."

I froze. Wincing, I opened my eyes again. Stark was sitting on a chair next to me. I glared at him.

"You son of a bitch." I growled. "I trusted you! I told you not to take me to a hospital! Did you listen to me? No, you brought m-!"

"Look around," Tony interrupted. "Does this look like a hospital to you?" My eyes scanned the room. This was _definitely_ not a hospital. From what I saw from magazines, this looked like…

"Your house…" I muttered. I was in his house. …Why was I in his house?

"See? I didn't bring you to a hospital. I did what you asked."

I stared at him for a moment. "…Well, why didn't you bring me to a hospital?"

Tony stared at me, stunned. "W-what?"

I grinned at him. "I'm just kidding…Now I'm outta here." Tearing more tubes and wires off, I hopped off the bed I was on. The world spun and pain exploded all over my torso. The world turned black for a moment as I felt myself falling, although I never hit the floor. Strong arms grabbed my shoulders and I was gently lowered to the ground. The air suddenly felt thinner, and I found myself finding it hard to breathe easily.

"I told you you wouldn't want to do that," he murmured. "Easy, Codi. Just take deep breaths."

"W-what did you do to me?" I gasped.

"Deep breaths, Codi," Tony reminded me. "You're still healing. I assume you're in pain."

"No shit, Sherlock."

I heard Stark chuckle. "Just relax. The only place you're going is back on your bed."

I froze for a moment. _My bed?_ I didn't have a bed. What was he talking about?

"Don't you mean my alleyway?" I asked, confused. He stiffened.

"Your alleyway…?" he asked, equally confused.

"Yeah, y-you know, where I sleep and e-everything?"

Everything was silent except for the alarms of the machines lying discarded next to us.

"No, Codi," he murmured. "Until we can get you back on your feet, you're staying with me."

I shook my head. "Too dangerous."

Tony snorted. "I'm Iron Man. Nothing's too dangerous."

A grin found its way to my face, and a sudden thought struck my brain. I felt the grin fall off my face.

_Oh no._

"My stuff!" I groaned.

"What about it?"

"How long has it been?"

"How long has what been?"

"How long has it been since I got shot?" my voice was rising in desperation.

"Four days."

"_Shit._"

"What? What's wrong?"

I ran a hand over my face. "Nothing, it's nothing. Just forget about it," I muttered. There would be no use going back to try to find my stuff. It would be gone.

"No. What's wrong?" Stark persisted.

"It's really nothing that I can't figure out later. Just piss off."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," I snapped. "Why do you care, anyway?"

"Why wouldn't I care?"

I snorted. "Well, it's no secret that I'm not a fan of yours. If I were you, I would have left me in the alleyway."

Spark looked at me with some emotion I couldn't quite put my finger on. "That's the difference between you and me."

"Huh." I attempted to push myself to my feet, but was quickly pushed back down by Stark.

"Just where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"Erm, to look around," I replied, mentally kicking myself for not thinking of a better excuse. Tony stared at me.

"You just collapsed two minutes ago when you tried to get up. Do you honestly think I'm going to let you get up again?" he scolded. When I didn't say anything, his eyes narrowed. "You were going to make a run for it."

"And what if I was?" I asked quietly.

"Codi, let me help you," he murmured.

"The last time someone tried to help me I was put into a foster home and that didn't turn out so well."

Stark put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm not going to abandon you."

I didn't believe him then, but as time grew on, I knew he meant what he said.


	5. Author's Note

Dearest Readers,

I am sad to inform you that I will no longer be continuing this story. I have lost all inspiration and I realized that if I were to continue writing it, it would go absolutely no where. Plus, I get extremely busy with school. So, I'm leaving it up to you all. If someone wants to pick the story up and continue writing it, I will give you the rights to the story as long as you give me some credit. I will tell you Codi's power (yes, I have not been telling you outright what it was on purpose) and her background info, and you will be free to use her as you wish. However, I do not want her to be butchered. If you are interested, I will read any one of your fics to evaluate your writing techniques. If you do not have any fics posted, I ask that you provide material.

I know this sounds kind of conceited, but I like to take care of my good characters. If no one wants to pick the story up, then it will sit here collecting dust.

Please don't let this story go to waste.

Thank you for reading this and I apologize for leaving you. I ask that you stay with me and take interest in my other fics, as there will be more, I just have to plan them.

Happy Writing!

Michaela


	6. Author's Note Updated

Dear readers,

Saving Codi will now be written by Razorgaze, so if you'd like to continue reading it, you can find it there.

Thank you for faithfully sticking with me and it has been an honor.

Michaela


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